Marauding Mayhem
by Emiliya Wolfe
Summary: Remus shares his love for chocolate.


**Roald Dahl day: Write about Remus' love of chocolate.**

 **Prompts: ugliest, careful, elbow, shrug, bright, cake, remind, join, night, laugh**

 **1,042 words.**

 **Romance weekly awareness - crack: Remus/chocolate**

* * *

Remus sighed, shivering with anticipation at his midnight snack. His friends were always laughing at him for his love of chocolate, but he just couldn't help it. His mother had given him a bar of chocolate after his first transformation, and he had fallen in love with it ever since.

He would always remember the feeling of safety it gave him as he bit into the creamy, delicious substance, the chocolate melting on his tongue. His mouth was watering just at the memory of it.

People came and went, most often for good once they learned of his condition. Even the Marauders were overly careful with Remus after the full moon, their worried glances and flinches giving them away. Chocolate… Now, chocolate remained. Chocolate was true and faithful and…

'Here is master Remus's chocolate cake, as requested,' a house-elf said with a short bow, interrupting his reverie.

'Thank you, Pippa,' Remus muttered, barely able to keep his eyes off of the gooey chocolate dripping off the brownie.

He dipped his fork into the cake, his heart pounding as it slowly slid past the resistance of each layer. There was the chocolate icing on top, the chocolate chips within, the chocolate cake itself, and the dark chocolate layer in the middle. He opened his mouth, closing his eyes to savour the experience…

'Hey Moony! Mind if I join you?'

… only to be interrupted by a certain Sirius Black.

Remus glanced at Sirius, angry that the other boy had interrupted his moment, but not daring to say no.

'Of course,' he said reluctantly, moving along.

'So, having a midnight snack?' Sirius asked casually.

'Yeah, um… I couldn't sleep,' Remus invented quickly. He could only imagine the teasing if he told Sirius he had purposefully set his alarm so he could get his chocolate fix of the day. 'I don't have a chocolate addiction, or something stupid like that.' He gave a nervous laugh.

'Of course not,' Sirius replied, smirking. 'Do you mind if I take a bite? I'm feeling slightly peckish myself.'

'Um…' Remus gulped, not wanting to hasten the alienation process of his new friends. He shrugged in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner. 'S...Sure.'

'I don't have to,' Sirius added.

'No, I really don't mind,' Remus said, more firmly this time.

To Remus's horror, Sirius snatched up his fork and shoved the whole slice in his mouth, his cheeks bulging as he chewed.

'You can't do it like that!' he burst out, unable to hold it in. 'You… You can't just massacre chocolate that way. It's a story - it's an art! You have to savour it!'

Sirius gulped. Remus saw with his own eyes how Sirius had swallowed the precious chocolate without even tasting it.

'Relax, Moony,' Sirius playfully elbowed him. 'It's only chocolate.'

'Only chocolate?' Remus asked, before standing up. 'Only chocolate?' he asked more forcefully this time. He shook his head. 'Some people…'

'Some people what?' Sirius asked curiously, frowning at his fellow second year. 'Why do I have to savour it? Why can't I just savour the next piece, or the piece after that? You come here every day, Moony.'

'I…' Remus hesitated. Did he want to lay his soul bare to this person he had barely known for a year, who had only found out two months ago that Remus was a werewolf? _Yes,_ he realised. _I do. I want to tell someone. And he hasn't left yet._

'My parents don't have much money,' he started, glancing at Sirius as he waited for the other boy to react. 'When I was… turned… the only thing that made my body ache even a little bit less was chocolate. Something about the endorphins, or composition, the Healers said. It's the same thing with Dementors, apparently.'

'So why don't you eat as much as possible?' Sirius insisted, concern evident in his grey eyes.

That surprised Remus. Hardly anyone was concerned about him. Except his parents, but their worry quickly turned to pity and regret.

'My… my parents don't really have the money,' he repeated, stammering a little as he motioned to his threadbare clothes. 'They can barely afford the costs my transformation does to my clothes and our cellar, let alone buy me a bar of chocolate every day. But they get me one every month, so I try to make it last as long as possible.'

Sirius was quiet for a long while, so long that Remus started fidgeting with the hem of his jumper. But he needn't have worried.

'Can I please have another one of these?' Sirius asked the nearest house-elf, pointing to the rest of Remus's cake, before turning to the werewolf. 'I'm sorry I took your chocolate,' he said forlornly. 'If you had told us that it helped with your transformations, James, Peter and I would have gladly stolen as much as we could at the Halloween feast.'

Remus laughed, half out of relief and half out of surprise. Why hadn't Sirius run away at the mention of his werewolf transformations? He kept quiet as the house-elf returned with an even bigger cake, one that was enough to fill both of their plates three times over.

They ate quietly for a while, the silence punctuated only by the soft clinking of their forks against their plates, the gently thump of their glasses of milk against the table. All too soon the cake was gone, the boys leaning back in their seats as they rubbed their too-full bellies.

'Sirius,' Remus ventured. 'Why do you still talk to me? Why do James and Peter? I thought we would stop being friends when you found out about my… situation.'

'Remus,' Sirius replied, his face grave. He put a hand on the other boy's arm, pursing his lips. 'Look, if there was any reason to stop being friends with you, it's that jumper. I mean, seriously. It's got to be the ugliest thing I've ever seen.'

Remus's mouth twitched into an uncertain smile as Sirius roared with laughter, throwing his head back with delight at his own joke. Seeing this, Remus smiled more broadly this time, feeling as though his life had just got a little brighter.

Chocolate was good. But maybe chocolate with friends was better.


End file.
